a peek inside the fishbowl

This giveaway is over. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Saturday April 11th is International Tabletop Day, and if there’s one local business who knows how to celebrate, it’s Fishbowl patron Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s.

Tabletop is an extremely popular web show*, in which host Wil Wheaton and special guest friends play a board game and invite viewers to follow along to watch and learn.

*Watch and enjoy, but please note this show sometimes contains swearing and jokes that may not be suitable for young kids.

Tabletop has helped specialty board games gain a huge surge in popularity. And with that, they have introduced International Tabletop Day each year for retailers to celebrate board games. (YOU GUYS KNOW how much I love board games, right? Especially during The Winter That Won’t End. Sigh.)

Here’s the scoop. Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s is hosting two Munchkin Master Tournaments on Saturday April 11 and are inviting anyone to enter. There will be a tournament at the 315 Richmond Road and 809 Bank St locations. Registration is free, just email customerservice@mrstiggywinkles.ca and let them know which location you prefer. The recommended age is 10+, but exceptions can be made for experienced Munchkin players!

Players are invited to bring a prop and give themselves a +3 advantage. Just make sure it can be easily removed if you “lose” it during your game (of course, your item will be returned). Be creative! How about a “Spikey Hair Band” Head Gear for +1? Or perhaps Magical Mukluks that give you a +3?

There are prizes for everyone who makes it to the final tables, including a Grand Prize for the Munchkin Master.

Are you a Munchkin noob? All stores will have board games on demo to come and sit and play. (I SO NEED THIS. Plus a patient teacher!) If you’re not a Munchkin fan you won’t be left out, as all board games will be 20% off on Saturday April 11th only. (WOOT!)

Doesn’t that sound amazing? Well today, dear Fishies, have an easy chance to win a copy of the Munchkin Deluxe Game. If you already own Munchkin Deluxe and at this moment are jotting the tournament down in your calendar, you can win any in-stock Munchkin Expansion of your choice.

Would you like to win? It’s easy.

• In order for your entry to qualify, please leave a comment below telling me about your family’s favourite board game. That’s it!
• This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
• If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to me for posting at andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
• I will draw one name using Random.org at noon EST on April 9, 2015. I’ll contact the winner via email, who will have to pick up their chosen prize at their preferred Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s location in a timely manner.
• Tiggy’s is on Facebook! Liking their page is not a requirement of this giveaway but they’re always posting great contests and in-store events and I really encourage you to follow them there!

Sound good? Over to you. Good luck! And if you want to register for the tournament I suggest you do it soon because space is limited.

Edited to add: if you’d like to learn more about Munchkin you can learn more about it in Will Wheaton’s video about it right here.

It has been a crazy week here at Casa Fishbowl (and it’s only TUESDAY). At least I had a moment to do this:

I decided to eat my 1000th dailylunches at the new Pure Kitchen in Westboro. Yesterday I edited a piece about it by Paula Roy for the Kitchissippi Times. By the end of it my mouth was watering so my decision was practically made for me. This  fulfilled a couple of different things for me. (1) The restaurant is within walking distance, in a neighbourhood I love to smithereens and (2) their focus is vegetarian food, which I think is pretty awesome.

Pure Kitchen is pretty new around these parts. Westies must be as excited as I am about it because every time I walk by it’s packed with people. Today was no exception, and it made me happy I set out at 11:30.

Pure Kitchen is in the location of the former Milagro’s. The layout is the pretty much the same as before, but it’s much brighter and cheerier and I’m already looking forward to a return visit.

–

For the past 100 or so lunches I’ve been thinking a lot about what this project means to me. Every once in awhile I scroll through the photos of my past lunches in the Flickr set. The images and choice of food conveys a lot of information when I think about it. I can see where I am, whether it’s a place with a pretty view, a restaurant, a winter wonderland, or a parking lot:

The photos also show if I’m eating alone or with an opportunistic friend who is perpetually hoping that I drop something:

Unrelated: Piper was at the right place at the right time when Mark accidently dropped a pork tenderloin medallion on the kitchen floor during dinner last night. That dog has learned that PATIENCE PAYS.

So what DOES this collection of a thousand photos say about me? Good question. I think I’m too close to make any unbiased judgements. Perhaps I can safely say I like vegetables and sushi, and that I am good at eating leftovers and probably eat too much cheese. (?)

This is not a portfolio project, god, I hope no one is thinking that I think I’m a food photographer who is angling for work. If I wanted it to be a portfolio I wouldn’t rush through 99% of the photos I take. It is merely, a journal. Some photos are great, some are less so (the same goes for my lunch choices actually), but they’re all an honest portrayal of that tiny sliver of my day. Will I keep going? At this point I don’t see why not.

James Rebanks (@herdyshepherd1 ) Twitter’s favourite shepherd on the culture of sheep farming http://t.co/BNMfOAzhdk pic.twitter.com/rcpFHWzHqA

— nelly (@nellleo) March 28, 2015

• SeaWorld tried to answer questions on Twitter, and it did not go well, mashable.com
• Rescued Magpie Becomes Part of a Photographer’s Family, featureshoot.com
• Foodie Elitism: Are Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan Elitist?, newrepublic.com
• Facebook May Host News Sites’ Content, nytimes.com
• Want to help prevent online bullying? Comment on Facebook, ted.com

On the nightstand: The Book Of Strange New Things